Is Sugar From Fruit Healthy?

by Ingria
on April 16, 2023

Fruit sugar: good or unhealthy?

Many of us know that we must eliminate sugar from our meals to live a healthy lifestyle or lose weight. This is simple to comprehend when it comes to puddings, sweets, candies, and the white stuff we sprinkle on our breakfast cereal or add to our tea and coffee. What about the fruit's sugar content? There is a lot of discussion about this, so let's have a look and see if we can make sense of it.

First of all, not all sugars are made equal. Fructose is classified as a simple sugar and is found in fruit. It is a monosaccharide, which means “one sugar.” Sucrose is a disaccharide, which means “two sugars,” and is a white granular sugar. These two sugars are fructose and a monosaccharide called glucose. Like fructose, sucrose occurs naturally in plants. These plants are sugar cane and sugar beets. Unfortunately, they are not consumed but thoroughly processed to generate the pure white granular sugar many of us like.

Because fructose is the sugar in fruit, many people wonder if fruit sugar is good or unhealthy for them. The solution to this question is a bit difficult. To begin, barely 10% of Americans consume the daily recommended quantity of fruit. In contrast, sixty percent of people consume more than the recommended daily amount of added white sugar, which is 30g per day. For instance, thirty grams of sugar is six level spoons, which is easily attained if you have three cups of tea with one teaspoon of sugar added, one teaspoon of sugar sprinkled on your cereal, and a sweet treat as a snack or dessert. In fact, one soda can contains more sugar than the maximum daily recommended quantity. Regrettably, many goods marketed as “fat-free” and “healthy” include added sugar, and breakfast cereals, particularly those marketed to children, contain between ten and fifteen grams of sugar per serving. To make matters worse, the recommended serving size is relatively small, and many individuals exceed it by at least twice as much.

Apple trees

White sugar is devoid of any additional nutrients. On the other hand, fruit has a variety of additional nutrients that might be advantageous to our health. The body cannot process fruit fiber. Yet, it promotes the health of the good bacteria in our gut, which play a crucial role in our digestion, immunity, and even our mental health. By comparison, too much sucrose in granulated added sugar might destroy the healthy bacteria in our gut, which is why fruit is a preferable option to receive that sweet dose in your diet.

Since fructose and fiber are linked, the fiber in fruit inhibits the digestion of the sugar in fruit. This also impacts how quickly the sugar is taken into our systems since the body needs to work considerably harder to acquire the sugar and other nutrients in fruit by breaking down the fiber. This is vital because it maintains our blood sugar levels and keeps us feeling full for longer. This implies that it does not induce the same rises in blood sugar levels as white sugar.

Fruit also includes a variety of additional nutrients that are essential for our health. They contain vitamins and antioxidants. They strengthen our immune systems and combat the damage produced by inflammation and oxidation in the body, which may lead to life-threatening illnesses. In comparison, a diet heavy in sugar can produce the inflammation that fruit nutrients can combat.

Another reason people believe fruit is dangerous for us is because they confuse the natural fruit sugar, fructose, with high fructose corn syrup. This fructose is derived from maize starch, is a processed product, and does not occur naturally in nature. High fructose corn syrup is used to sweeten many processed goods, including soda, drinks, yogurt, sweets, fast food products, and even foods you wouldn't think needed sweetening, such as bread, soup, and canned fruit. Because of their greater calorie content and lack of essential nutrients, excessive consumption of these food products, and hence high fructose corn syrup, has been associated to weight gain. It has also been related to other significant conditions such as heart and renal disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.

On the other hand, fruit, particularly berries, has been demonstrated to help avoid metabolic syndrome. Whole fruit consumption lowers blood pressure, heart disease, renal disease, and diabetes. With that stated, these studies pertain to consuming the entire fruit, including fiber.

The situation changes somewhat when fruit is processed, either in a factory or at home, and put into juices and smoothies. Fruit juices and smoothies have the same vitamins and minerals as whole fruits, but the dietary fiber is broken down, allowing the body to access the fructose sugar quickly. As a result, drinking fruit juice or smoothies can cause blood sugar levels to rise faster than eating full fruit. The other element is high fructose corn syrup, which is used as a preservative in many commercially available juices, raising the sugar level even further.

Drinking an occasional fruit juice, preferably produced from whole fruit and including some “bits,” is not damaging to your health. However, drinking commercially-made juices, particularly those from concentrate, is just as bad regarding sugar content as drinking soda. Smoothies are somewhat healthier for us since the fiber is still present, but it has been broken down to some level, so the sugar is still more accessible than in whole fruit. Smoothies with more veggies than fruit can assist because many vegetables do not contain sugar. Eggplants, tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers are examples of vegetables that contain fructose. These veggies, however, are not often seen in smoothies. Smoothies may be made healthier by adding leafy greens like spinach and kale, celery and cucumber for water content, and avocado for healthy fat content. The oil in avocado will help reduce the rate at which sugar boosts your blood sugar levels. Using water, cooled fruit, or herbal tea as the liquid component of a smoothie is also healthier than fruit juice.

In conclusion, eating whole fruit on a regular basis is critical for protecting your health and lowering your chance of getting life-threatening illnesses. But, misunderstanding fructose, the fruit sugar, should not cloud your judgment or cause you to avoid eating fruit. White sugar (sucrose) and high fructose corn syrup, both produced and processed, are fructose that should be avoided. Natural is the way to go.

 

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